Parenting Styles and Aggression Among Young Adolescents: A Systematic Review of Literature.

There is ample research on aggression amongst children and adolescents that highlights several antecedents of aggression. While researchers have remarked on the relationship between parenting styles and aggression in children, there are few studies that integrate and systemize the available studies on parenting styles and aggression. The present review is an attempt to fill this gap. For this review, relevant studies were first searched, then coded and classified. As a result of thorough review, 34 relevant studies were identified. The review shows that parenting styles have a direct impact on aggression in children. Authoritative parenting styles play a positive role in psychological behavior in children while authoritarian and permissive parenting styles result in aggressive and negative behaviors in children. The current study also suggests that there is room to conduct studies on this topic in developing countries. Future research should be undertaken in developing and under-developed countries and should focus on mixed modes of research and examine the direct influence of parenting styles on aggressive behavior in children in different cultural contexts.

Growth Inhibition and Apoptosis with H31 Metabolites from Marine Bacillus SW31 in Head and Neck Cancer Cells.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a novel marine micro-organism with anticancer properties, H31, the metabolic product of Bacillus SW31, has anti-tumor effects on head and neck cancer, and potential for apoptotic-enhancing anti-cancer treatment of affected patients. METHODS: The cell viability and apoptosis assays were performed. Changes in the signal pathway related to apoptosis were investigated. Then, the therapeutic effects of H31 were explored in mouse xenograft model and drug toxicity of H31 was examined in zebrafish model. RESULTS: We identified the anticancer activity of H31, a novel metabolic product of Bacillus SW31. Bacillus SW31, a new marine micro-organism, has 70% homology with Bacillus firmus and contains potent cytotoxic bioactivity in head and neck cancer cells using MTT assay. Combined with c-JUN, p53, cytochrome C, and caspase-3, H31 induced apoptosis of KB cells, a head and neck cancer cell line. In a separate in vivo model, tumor growth in C3H/HeJ syngeneic mice was suppressed by H31. In addition, in a zebrafish model used for toxicity testing, a considerable dose of H31 did not result in embryo or neurotoxicity. CONCLUSION: Growth inhibition and apoptosis were achieved both in vitro and in vivo in head and neck cancer cells after exposure to H31, a metabolite from the marine Bacillus species, without any significant toxicity effects even at considerable H31 dose concentrations.

Enzymatic properties of an extracellular phospholipase C purified from a marine streptomycete.

A novel extracellular phospholipase C (PLC) was purified from a marine streptomycete. It had a molecular mass of 28 kDa as estimated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Its enzyme activity was optimal at pH 8.0 at 45 degrees Celsius. The PLC hydrolyzed only phosphatidylcholine. Its activity was enhanced 300% by Na(+) (200 mM), suggesting that the purified PLC is a typical marine-type enzyme.

Involvement of Ca2+/calmodulin kinase II (CaMK II) in genistein-induced potentiation of leucine/glutamine-stimulated insulin secretion.

Genistein has been reported to potentiate glucose-stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS). Inhibitory activity on tyrosine kinase or activation of protein kinase A (PKA) was shown to play a role in the genistein-induced potentiation effect on GSIS. The aim of the present study was to elucidate the mechanism of genistein-induced potentiation of insulin secretion. Genistein augmented insulin secretion in INS-1 cells stimulated by various energy-generating nutrients such as glucose, pyruvate, or leucine/glutamine (Leu/Gln), but not the secretion stimulated by depolarizing agents such as KCl and tolbutamide, or Ca(2+) channel opener Bay K8644. Genistein at a concentration of 50 µM showed a maximum potentiation effect on Leu/Gln-stimulated insulin secretion, but this was not sufficient to inhibit the activity of tyrosine kinase. Inhibitor studies as well as immunoblotting analysis demonstrated that activation of PKA was little involved in genistein-induced potentiation of Leu/Gln-stimulated insulin secretion. On the other hand, all the inhibitors of Ca(2+)/calmodulin kinase II tested, significantly diminished genistein-induced potentiation. Genistein also elevated the levels of [Ca(2+)]i and phospho-CaMK II. Furthermore, genistein augmented Leu/Gln-stimulated insulin secretion in CaMK II-overexpressing INS-1 cells. These data suggest that the activation of CaMK II played a role in genistein-induced potentiation of insulin secretion.

A novel extracellular phospholipase C purified from a marine bacterium, Pseudoalteromonas sp. J937.

Marine bacterial isolates were screened for phospholipase C (PLC) activity on PCY agar plates containing phosphatidylcholine (PC) as substrate. The strain that showed the highest activity on a PCY screening agar plate and a thin-layer chromatography was identified as a strain of Pseudoalteromonas and subsequently designated Pseudoalteromonas sp. J937. The extracellular PLC of the strain J937 was purified to a specific activity of 33 U mg(-1) protein by serial ion exchange and gel filtration column chromatography. It had a molecular mass of 32 kDa estimated by SDS-PAGE. The optimal pH and temperature of the enzyme were about pH 8 and 45 degrees C, respectively. The PLC hydrolyzed phosphatidylethanolamine as well as PC but not other glycerophospholipids. Its activity was enhanced by 150% with Ca2+ (200 mM) and by 180% with Na+ (500 mM), suggesting that the purified PLC is a marine-type enzyme.

Bioluminescent assay for sphingolipid ceramide N-deacylase using Vibrio harveyi dark mutant M-17.

A new bioluminescent assay method for the activity of sphingolipid ceramide N-deacylase (SCDase: EC 3.5.1.69) as well as ceramidase (CDase: EC 3.5.1.23) was developed using bioluminescent marine bacteria. Enzymatically synthesized ceramide (N-myristoyl sphigosine, C14:0-18:l) and commercial SCDase were used in this demonstration, and myristic (tetradecanoic, C14:0) acid produced by the SCDase hydrolysis was quantified using Vibrio harveyi M-17, a dark mutant of V. harveyi. The in vivo light intensity of M-17 was stimulated up to thousands fold in the presence of myristic acid, was used for this assay. SCDase activity with as little as 10 microU and 5 nM of myristic acid production were detected in less than one min. The assay worked well for the determination of Km and chromatographic fraction assay.

Identification of psychrophile Shewanella sp. KMG427 as an eicosapentaenoic acid producer.

An isolate from holothurians was identified as an eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA)-producing bacterium KMG427, which is characterized by EPA synthesis efficiency, by thin layer and gas chromatographic analyses. The EPA production was maximized to more than 10% of the total fatty acids by incubation at 4o degrees C after cell proliferation at 20 degrees C. The isolated bacterium was categorized as Gramnegative, rod-shaped, aerobic, and motile with a single polar flagellum. According to phylogenetic analysis based on morphological and physiological specificities as an EPA-producing bacterium, the isolate KMG427 was found to belong to the genus Shewanella. The 16S rDNA of KMG427 was revealed to have 100% of sequence identity to that of S. hanedai CIP 103207T. Therefore, the isolate might be classified and identified as Shewanella sp. KMG427.

Euplexides A-E: Novel Farnesylhydroquinone Glycosides from the Gorgonian Euplexaura anastomosans.

Euplexides A-E (1-5), novel farnesylhydroquinone glycosides of the moritoside class, have been isolated from the gorgonian Euplexaura anastomosans. The structures of these compounds have been elucidated by combined chemical and spectral methods. The absolute stereochemistry has been determined by the modified Mosher's method and an acidic hydrolysis followed by GC analysis. These compounds exhibited moderate cytotoxicity and antioxidizing activity as well as inhibitory activity against PLA(2).